A/N: Hoo, boy- this ought to be interesting!! Well, I received a lot of positive feedback on my "Letters" fic, so I decided I'd do some TLA eventually, but truth is, and I am embarrassed-I haven't finished TLA yet. I just started! So, I will eventually add to that fic. And thanks to all of you who reviewed! ^_^
This fic centers around one thing that popped into my head when I was talking to the people in Daila or more specifically the people at the Daila Inn. The Innkeeper and workers were talking about a show they were putting on to make up for the lack of their famous seafood. Then I read that girl's mind and she mentioned something about getting on stage and dancing. So, I wondered what happened when Isaac and Co. stumbled upon this inn. Here's my guess! And hopefully this is humorous! ^_^
If I owned Golden Sun I probably would not be writing this fanfic! I don't own any of the song lyrics I threw in.
~Just to let you all know, the characters with original names are the names I gave the nameless people that were in the inn!
Slightly edited 11/03/2008
"Finally off that ship," Mia muttered as she Ivan, Isaac, and Garet climbed off their boat.
Ivan glanced up at his traveling companion. "I thought you would've liked that- being a water adept and all."
"I would've if Garet hadn't been so miserable. You know what they say, 'misery loves company.'"
"FREE! FREE!" Garet dashed past the two at that moment singing triumphantly. "FREE!"
"Point made," Ivan agreed staring after the fire adept bewildered. "And I thought I could run fast."
Isaac came up behind them. "Ah, solid ground. I could kiss it!" Mia laughed and Ivan smiled.
"Well, Isaac, where to now?" Mia asked looking around. Isaac glanced around, also, unsure of their whereabouts. Ivan cleared his throat and the two looked at him.
"I'm picking up some people's thoughts in that direction," he pointed to his right.
Isaac nodded, pleased. "Lead the way."
oOoO
"Daila," Garet read off an old wooden sign, "The sign says this 'Daila' is right up the road," he gestured at the road they were traversing. The four were slowly but surely nearing the town.
"Daila?" Ivan's ears perked. "Hey, a couple years ago some travelers from Indra passed through Kalay. They mentioned an inn at Daila- said it had the best seafood ever!"
Garet grinned broadly. "Yum. I can already smell the shrimp and fish!"
"Mmmmm," Mia agreed, closing her eyes and sniffing the imaginary food. "I hope they have some of that glorious halibut."
"Yeah," Isaac nodded excitedly, "and some of those scrumptious frog legs!" Mia, Ivan, and Garet all halted and stared at Isaac. "What?"
"Um," Ivan lowered his eyes to the ground before looking up at Isaac nervously. "We, uh, we won't ask."
"Yeah, what he said," Mia agreed and continued walking. Ivan followed her. Garet continued to stare at Isaac horrified.
Isaac shifted uncomfortably and glanced around, trying to avoid Garet's eyes. "Well, uh, guess we should, um..."
"You did it, didn't you?" Garet cut him off, realization dawning in his eyes. "You and Jenna-you two ate my pet frogs! You said my sister did! And.."
"Garet!" Isaac cried in exasperation. "Your whole family ate your frogs! Practically all of Vale did. Remember when you were mad at your sister and you "ran away" for a day?" Garet nodded. "Well, your mom and sister hated all those frogs and my mom had a killer frog recipe so we had a, uh, a frogfest."
Garet's jaw dropped. "Your mom cooked my frogs?! And you all had a festival?!"
"It wasn't that big a deal..it.." Isaac stumbled over his words in his frenzy to justify his actions on the frog matter. Lucky for him, Ivan saved him the trouble.
"Hey, Isaac! Garet! You coming?" Ivan hollered at them. "We're at the town! Let's get some food!"
"Look," Isaac put a hand on Garet's shoulder. "I'm really sorry, but let's put the past behind us and go munch on some lobster, okay?"
Garet seemed conflicted for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Okay, but I won't forget this." That answer seemed to satisfy Isaac and the two took after their friends.
oOoO
"Well, here's the inn," Mia stated. The four stood right outside the door eyeing it.
"Yeah, but I don't smell any seafood," Ivan commented.
"Maybe they haven't started cooking yet?" Garet offered hopefully.
Mia glanced at the sun in the sky and shook her head doubtfully. "Well, they should've. Maybe they're having a late dinner?"
Isaac led the way into the inn. "Only one way to find out."
oOoO
"Uhm, Ivan..." Mia started, glancing around, "did those travelers say anything else about this inn?"
"Like how odd it is?" Garet piped up. "What are those women doing over there?" He pointed to two women.
The four watched with much bewilderment and amusement as the two women rapidly spun in circles and jumped up and down. One kept muttering something about a dragon.
"I-I," Ivan seemed to be at a loss for words. "I don't remember them mentioning any of this..."
"That's because they usually don't do this," a girl came up behind them. "Since all the boats are gone, their sailors can't go out and catch fish. So they do a show to make up for the lack of food," she explained.
"No food?" Garet groaned.
"No halibut?" Mia mumbled. She shook her head sadly. It was bad enough on their boat they couldn't catch any fish, but now they weren't even going to get to pay to eat fish?
Ivan sighed. "No lobster."
"No legs," Isaac glanced at Garet. "Crab legs."
"Yeah," the girl sighed. "And to think I was worrying about having to decide whether I wanted my fish poached or grilled. All that hard thinking and it amounted to nothing," she pouted. "I'm Sierra by the way."
"I'm Ivan," Ivan nodded, then pointed towards the women. "So, they're practicing for the show?"
Sierra nodded. "Yeah, that's the innkeeper's wife and the waitress. They do a lot of dancing."
"Dancing!" Garet exclaimed, eyes bright. "I want to dance!" Mia, Isaac, and Ivan all stared as Garet rushed off and grabbed the innkeeper's wife.
"Whoa, hey there!" The innkeeper's wife laughed as Garet dramatically dipped her towards the floor. "Aren't you the feisty one?"
"Feisty is my middle name!" Garet proclaimed loudly as he spun her around.
"And feisty is synonymous with trouble," Ivan muttered as he, Mia, and Isaac sat at a table with Sierra.
"This is Robert," Sierra introduced the traveler standing in the corner. "He's stuck here until some boats come in."
"Oh, that's too bad," Mia sympathized.
Isaac's eyes wandered around the tiny inn. "Uhm, is there a second story?" Sierra shook her head. Isaac looked puzzled. "Then where do they have the show?"
"Over there," Robert pointed at a table pushed against the far wall with no chairs.
Mia stared at the table, horrified. "That's the stage?"
Sierra nodded gravely. "Yes, they're rather desperate."
"Well, where do we sleep?" Ivan asked curiously.
"In the room they're practicing. They pushed the beds aside so they could rehearse." Robert informed him.
Isaac stared at them in shock. After so much time spent cooped up on that boat he'd hope to return to something more...normal. This inn just kept getting weirder and weirder. With the way his luck had been going he wouldn't be surprised if he'd sailed in to an alternate reality where his name was actually Robin.
"Hey, guys," Garet's overly cheerful voice jerked Isaac out of his puzzling thoughts. Garet plopped down next to Isaac. "They're going to serve us some soup, then put the show on." He grinned.
"Yay. Soup." Ivan commented dryly. Garet looked at the younger boy.
"Cheer up. I'm sure the show will be worth it. Eva, Jerrilyn, and Jose all seem like good performers."
Mia frowned. "Who?"
"Jose is the innkeeper," Sierra explained. "Jerrilyn is his wife and Eva is their employee."
"Yeah," Garet nodded. "They said they'd serve the food any minute now."
oOoO
Meanwhile in the kitchen.....
"Are you sure?" Eva stared doubtfully at the packets in her hands.
Jose nodded vigorously. "Yes, anything to make them think they had a good time. We can't afford refunds."
"Just put it in their drinks," Jerrilyn instructed. Eva sighed and nodded before heading back to the kitchen.
"I hope we get some more boats soon," Jose groaned and Jerrilyn nodded in agreement.
oOoO
Back with the gang.....
"Any minute, huh?" Isaac asked skeptically, glancing out the window at the setting sun.
"That's what they said," Garet pouted defensively.
"Here you go," Eva announced happily, carrying out a tray of food and drinks. "One bowl of soup for everyone and a drink," she said in a singsong voice, passing the said items out one by one. After she was done she winked. "Enjoy."
Mia began eating her soup when something suddenly occurred to her. "Hey, Sierra, Robert. Have you two seen any other travelers around here?"
Sierra looked up from her soup and nodded. "Yeah, some other people were looking for a boat. One had blue hair like you..."
"Hey, Mia," Ivan nudged her, "this drink is good!"
"I'm sure it is," Mia glared at him before returning her attention back to Sierra.
"......another girl had red hair, and there was some old dude with glasses. I think they had a falling out with the blue dude because they split up." Sierra paused and took a sip of her drink.
"Hey, Mia, these drinks are really good," Isaac commented, gulping his.
Mia mulled over the information she'd just gotten from Sierra. I wonder why Alex left them. I mean, something doesn't seem to be adding up. Well, at least when we cross each other we'll have one less adept to fight. Mia stopped her pondering when Jerrilyn bounced through the kitchen doors with a bright smile pasted across her face.
"And, now, what you've all been waiting for!" Jerrilyn announced hopping onto the "stage."
A whoop from Isaac caused Mia to jump in her chair. Since when did Isaac become so excited about this?
"Welcome to the Lair of the Dragon!" She exclaimed, then muttered, "or was it Dragon's Lair?" She shrugged. "We are going to rock your world tonight!"
At this Ivan clapped excitedly. Mia raised her eyebrows. Her companions were becoming a tad bit too excited in her opinion.
"Yeah!" Robert pumped his fist in the air and Sierra squealed. Isaac began bouncing up and down as did Garet. Mia frowned, puzzled. Why were they all getting so excited over some cheesy act?
"Now, let's give it up for the singing sensation, the Diva Eva!"
Eva jumped onto the table and Jerrilyn stepped down. "Let's party!" Eva shouted and began to clap. Everyone else but Mia joined with Eva in clapping. Mia could only stare as Eva began singing in a horribly offbeat voice. She cringed as Eva hit a high note. She could only be grateful that technology to amplify a singer's voice had yet to be invented.
"Woo, let's dance!" Isaac jumped up from his chair, grabbed Jerrilyn, and started twirling her. Mia raised a brow, completely taken aback.
"Oh, yeah! It's time for some fun!" Garet announced still bouncing around excitedly.
"Yeah!" Robert agreed, also bouncing.
"Hey, Mia?" Mia turned towards Ivan. His eyes were bigger than normal and shiny. "Can I have your drink if you're not going to drink it?"
"Huh?" Mia started. "Yeah, sure. Here," she pushed it towards him. She jumped when he snatched it and began gulping it greedily. She watched, fascinated, as his eyes grew bigger and shinier with each gulp. He also began bouncing more as he drank. Then it hit her. "Give me that," she demanded, grabbing the glass.
Ivan clutched the glass and held it closer to him, frowning. "Uh-uh, you said I could drink it!"
"Look, just trust me. It's bad for you."
Ivan shook his head and his eyes twinkled. He brought the glass up to his mouth and quickly downed the rest of it. Mia stared appalled as he sat the glass back down on the table with a bang. "Ha," he stuck out his tongue. "You should've drank it when it was yours!" He smiled teasingly. Mia let out an exasperated groan.
"Let's dance!" Sierra exclaimed grabbing Ivan's hands. Soon the two were dancing to Eva's horribly off key music.
"This is fun!" Robert shouted loudly. Mia winced, before turning her attention to him. Robert and Garet had apparently engaged each other in a soup eating contest. So far it looked like Garet was in the lead with eight empty soup bowls and starting on his ninth. Robert was on his seventh.
"What are you doing?" Mia screeched. "You're dirtying all their dishes!"
"How else could we keep score?" Robert asked in a "matter-of-fact" tone.
Garet pushed his bowl away. "This isn't fun anymore." He looked around, and his eyes landed on the stage. He smiled and looked at Robert. "I know what'll be fun."
"What?" Robert leaned forward.
"Singing. I'm going to sing!" He marched excitedly to the make-shift stage. "Hey, Eva the Diva, share some of the spotlight, huh?" Eva nodded and hopped off the table. Mia's eyes widened as Garet jumped on the table and began belting out, 'It's A Small World.' "It's a small world after all…"
"Oh, you got that right!" Sierra called out. She and Ivan laughed. "Hey, Ivan," she leaned forward, "wanna go to be early?" She winked. Ivan's eyes went wider and he nodded.
Mia's jaw dropped. She grabbed Ivan's hands and yanked him away. "I don't think so!" She scowled, glaring at Sierra. "You," she turned to Ivan, "you're sitting with me until this insanity passes."
"But, Mia, I want to dance," he cried.
Mia rolled her eyes. "No buts," she scolded, dragging him behind her. Isaac and Jerrilyn were dancing to Garet's frightening rendition of 'It's A Small World.' Jerrilyn looked like she was having the time of her life.
"Y'know, it's getting kind of hot in here," Garet commented with a mischievous grin. Mia's eyes snapped over to Garet with much dread. She watched mortified as he ripped off his shirt. "Living la vida loca!" he shouted to the occupants of the room. Eva let out a whoop. Mia nearly lost her grip on Ivan she was so surprised.
"Oh, no, you don't," she tightened her grip when he tried to slip away. Ivan let out a disappointed groan.
"Party pooper," he pouted.
"You'll thank me later," she assured him. Mia groaned as Garet continued to sing. Her headache was growing worse by the second. I think I've seen it all now!
"I wanna sing too!" Isaac announced jumping on stage next to Garet.
I was wrong! Mia looked terror-stricken. What else could possibly happen?
Garet stepped aside so his friend could be bathed in the spotlight. Isaac stared at the small expectant audience through shiny eyes. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. It was kind of hot in there. "It is kind of hot in here," Isaac commented.
Please, no, please, please, please! Shock and horror shone through Mia's eyes as Isaac tore off his shirt. The other females in the room let out whoops of encouragement.
"Don't stop now, boys," Eva egged them on. Garet grinned smugly and began reaching for his pants.
"Don't go any further!" Mia shouted at him. Garet looked disappointed but complied. Mia turned towards Eva. "Stop encouraging them!" She snarled. "Come on," she tugged at Ivan and sat down with him at the table.
"Hey," Jose stopped by Mia, "are your friends available often? We could really rake in the dough."
"No!" Mia snapped angrily. "We're leaving here first thing in the morning!" She glowered at him. "You know they wouldn't be acting this way if wasn't for those drinks you gave us!"
Jose smirked and crossed hi arms. "Bet that red headed friend of yours wouldn't mind."
"He wouldn't be acting this idiotic if you hadn't given us those drinks!" Mia exclaimed her tone rising.
"What do you mean?" Eva stood in front of Mia now. "He never even touched his drink," she waved at Garet's cup. Sure enough, it was still full. This horrifying revelation caused Mia to glance at Garet again with new eyes. After tonight she'd definitely be looking at him in a whole new light.
Ivan looked at Mia. "If Garet doesn't want his.........."
"No," Mia snapped, cutting him off. "We have to get out of here. Maybe if we all went to bed," Mia mused. It was late so they couldn't travel. Maybe Isaac and Ivan could sleep whatever it was off. Mia narrowed her eyes as they focused on Garet. She'd definitely have to have a talk with that boy.
"I now present you," Garet sang cheerfully. "Isaac the Venus adept," he rambled on.
Oh,no, Mia used her free hand to rub her temple while still clutching Ivan with her other hand. He's really going to sing this time.
Isaac grinned at everyone in the room before he broke out into song. "I want to be the very best!"
"Adept," Garet was doing some type of background music. Mia wasn't too sure what the two were trying to accomplish.
"That no one ever was," Isaac continued his serenade.
"No adept ever was," Garet sang. Jerrilyn took Garet's seat at the table and offered Ivan a sympathetic smile. She then turned her eyes at Mia. Mia glared at her.
"Hey, lighten up," Jerrilyn scolded teasingly. "This is fun! I can't wait until Riki and Tavi become of age." Mia's mouth fell open and she decided not to ask. Jerrilyn winked and without thinking picked up Garet's glass and took a long swig from it. "This is good," she drank some more as Ivan looked on longingly.
"I can't believe we're paying for this," Mia grumbled.
"You're not," Jerrilyn looked at Mia amused. Mia looked confused.
"Come again?"
"Well, while your friend," she waved at Garet, "was practicing with us, we found out that you all had lost all of your money."
Mia looked even more confused. "Huh?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pouch. She peered in it and frowned. All her money was gone! She glared at Garet. "How?"
"Anyway," Jerrilyn cut her off, ignoring Mia's comments, "we told him we'd let you all stay for free if he helped put on a good show. We can't afford to give these two refunds," she pointed at Sierra and Robert. "They've stayed too many days. And he's doing a good job so far." Her grin broadened. "Even his friend's helping out."
Isaac was now singing with much passion. "Gotta catch'em all! Djinni! Gotta catch'em alllllllllllllllllllllllllll!"
Mia moaned and let her head hit the table in defeat. "It's going to be a loooooooong night."